“Why do you think you are qualified for this position?” is a common interview question that gives you an opportunity to explain why you’re the best candidate for the job.
If this question were a baseball pitch, it would be a softball lobbed right over the middle of the plate — and it’s up to you to knock it out of the park.
How to answer “Why do you think you are qualified for this position?”
Prepare a confident (but not cocky) response that highlights how your unique skills will contribute to the team. Ground your answers in your past accomplishments, preferably with measurable results. Wrap up your answer by sharing what excites you about the job and why.
In asking this question, the hiring manager is gauging your understanding of the role and the organization, and how your skills and work history equip you to succeed in the job. It’s also an opportunity to highlight something personal — maybe something that’s not on your resume — that shows your values and interests align with the role and the organization.
So, if you possess a specific skill, character trait or achievement that uniquely qualifies you for this job, now is the time to highlight it and make the case for why you’re the best fit for the position.
How to Answer ‘Why Do You Think You Are Qualified for This Position?’
Come Prepared
Preparation is essential to acing a job interview. Read over the job description multiple times to understand the larger problem they are trying to solve, the challenges you might face and the solutions you can provide. Dig into the company’s website, social media posts and even employees’ LinkedIn posts to learn as much as you can about the organization and the type of work that you would be doing. If you can visualize the day-to-day tasks, you can paint a more detailed picture of the value you can add to the team.
Be Confident But Not Arrogant
Be confident in your answer, but be careful not to come across as arrogant or as though you have all the answers. Ground your answer in your skills, experience and accomplishments as they relate to the work of the job in particular and the organization in general. This way, you’re not speculating what you could do; you’re sharing what you’ve already done, without any hyperbolic adjectives or unrealistic promises.
Don’t Compare Yourself to Others
Prove that you are the best person for the job without comparing yourself to other candidates. You don’t know who the other candidates are, so you can only speak to your own qualifications.
For example, instead of saying, “I have 20 years of experience, which probably makes me the most experienced candidate for this role,” say, “I have worked across multiple roles and industries in my 20–year career, and I believe that breadth of experience will help me understand the business challenges of your clients across a range of industries.”
Highlight Transferable Skills
Even if your work history isn’t an exact match with this specific role or industry, you can explain how your transferable skills (like problem solving or management) will be useful in this new opportunity. If you’re interviewing with an insurance company for example, you could demonstrate how your previous work with an insurance client provided insight into the challenges in their industry.
Share Something Unique About Yourself
Generic or vague statements about being a “self-starter” are not going to cut it with hiring managers. Even if you tell them that your previous role had very similar responsibilities, you’re still not telling them why you are the best candidate for the job.
Differentiate yourself from other candidates by sharing how your unique skills or background would bring value to this role and align with the mission of the organization. Go beyond the bullet points on your resume and share something the hiring manager doesn't know about you.
Demonstrate Your Impact
The hiring manager has likely heard several other candidates make lofty promises about “solving problems” or “increasing revenue,” but those claims don’t have much value unless you are able to prove the impact you’ve had in previous organizations.
Provide a specific example of a time when you solved a problem, and use the STAR method to make sure you’re telling a succinct story focused on business results — preferably those that can be quantified. The fact that you managed email marketing campaigns at your previous company would be more impressive if you could say they had a 30 percent click-through rate and a 20-percent increase in new business.
Show What Motivates You
Hiring managers also appreciate it when you can demonstrate how the position aligns with your career goals or personal values. This shows that you know what you want from your career and that you’re motivated by more than just a paycheck. If you’re a data analyst, for example, you might be interested in getting exposure to the business side of data analysis, or you might be excited to analyze carbon emissions data and develop strategies to reduce emissions.
Depending on the hiring manager, they may prefer a less-experienced candidate with a genuine curiosity and eagerness to learn, rather than a more-experienced candidate who only applied for the job because it was available.
Sample Answers to ‘Why Do You Think You Are Qualified for This Position?’
Example 1
After looking through your agency’s portfolio, I see that you work with a number of fintech and insurtech companies. I have represented fintech and insurtech companies for six years, and I know which companies dominate each niche of the industry. Last year, for example, I conducted a market analysis for a fintech client, and our analysis indicated a strong international market for their product. By expanding their digital marketing overseas, our campaign delivered an 80 percent increase in new business in less than a year. I enjoy collaborating with clients to better define their value proposition, and I find clients value a long-term relationship with a consultant who takes the time to understand their business.
Example 2
In my 20 years in human resources, I have worked as a business partner, a recruiter and a HR director. This breadth of experience allows me to understand the challenges each employee of the HR team will encounter as the company prepares to increase headcount and expand to new markets. In my last role as HR director, I helped the company scale from 100 to 150 employees in a year. This meant working with recruiters to identify candidates with the right cultural fit, and developing onboarding processes to familiarize new employees with our culture and our business. We were able to ramp our team in four months with an average time-to-fill of 24 days and a turnover rate of less than 8 percent — all amid a competitive talent marketplace. It was an exciting process, and I learned a lot along the way.
Frequently Asked Questions
How to answer what qualifies you for this position?
Research the job requirements, consider which of your skills and experiences are applicable to the position and share those qualifications confidently, humbly and, when possible, with real-world examples and measurable results.
‘What is your qualification?’ answer example
After reviewing the job description, I see that you need an experienced administrative assistant who can manage phone calls, appointments and other clerical tasks for the CEO. In my previous role as an administrative assistant, my manager gave me top marks on my performance reviews for my clerical, organizational and interpersonal skills. I quickly learned how to route phone calls to the most appropriate department, and I always maintained a friendly but professional demeanor on the phone. I took pride knowing I was responsible for maintaining smooth, orderly operations, and I am excited to refine my skills by working with executives in the corporate office.
